ABSTRACT
Six kinds of Japanese popular culture namely films, television dramas, manga, anime, music and computer games are examined as Japan's cultural heritage and tourism resources. Traditionally, these types of Japanese culture have been interrelated through media mix, which is a multimedia franchise strategy and has been generating many derivatives (e.g. anime) based on original stories (e.g. manga). This is an effective technique for the supply side of these products to wholly utilise the ability of original stories for maximising economic benefits. However, it may work negatively if the quality of derivatives cannot satisfy the expectations of the demand side of the products because fans may think authenticity and/or interpretation of original stories have been damaged or lost in their derivatives. There are Japanese people who visit the places related to a certain production. It is called popular media-induced tourism or contents tourism in Japan. The meanings of religious Japanese words, seichi (sacred sites) and junrei (pilgrimages) have been secularised in the context of contents tourism. Nowadays, visits to the sites relevant to specific productions are called seichi junrei. Of various types of Japanese popular culture, primarily anime and secondarily manga are most closely associated with contents tourism and seichi junrei.
